Topic007: Testing Large Scale Dynamics: Double Galaxies II, Bill Tifft 6/08/15

Book figure 2.19

Results from the study of the Karachentsev catalog of double galaxies, other precision optical work and especially several 21-cm studies noted in Topic006, indicated that differential redshifts in pairs were quantized, quite inconsistent with conventional dynamical expectations of motion under gravity. The second study to test for dynamical motion between galaxies utilized orientation of the pairs. Widely separated doubles, governed by independent local gravitational dynamics, should show no significant correlation between their orientations. This topic introduces the subject of large scale structure and examines the orientation correlation between widely separated galaxy pairs in superclusters.

Since the Karachentsev catalog covered a large part of the sky, the pairs provided a well defined sample of a typical component of superclusters sufficient to determine the scale and form of such structures. While observing and shifting between closely spaced…

Imagine…

Imagine turning a mere point of light into a real world! That is what Target Asteroids! observers do when they submit images and data to the OSIRIS-REx mission’s citizen science program. These observations allow the OSIRIS-REx science team and other planetary scientists to better understand our target, Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) (101955) Bennu, and the entire Near-Earth Object (NEO) population, too! This Professional-Amateur or “ProAm” collaboration builds on the tremendous foundations of amateur astronomy – throughout history, amateur and professional astronomers have made exciting discoveries, collaborated to learn more about the cosmos, and teamed up to provide details about the Solar System. What could be more exciting and rewarding than that (other than seeing a returned sample in hand)!?

What is Target Asteroids!?

Target Asteroids! (TA!) is a pro-am-citizen science program that engages amateur astronomers to observe particular asteroids through special campaigns by providing images and…

Guest Bloggers: Heather Roper and Ryan Dougherty

We are Heather Roper and Ryan Dougherty, and we recently graduated from the University of Arizona. We served as graphic artists for the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission. We worked directly with the scientists, engineers, and mission management to learn about the mission and then worked to convey the knowledge we gained to the public in a visually compelling manner. A large part of our work revolved around social media strategy and developing projects to disseminate the science and ideas behind the mission to the general public via various social media platforms. As student employees, we were given the opportunity and privilege to work with a team doing new and exciting things in an effort to understand more about Earth and the origins of life in the Universe. Needless to say, it’s been an exciting opportunity for the both of us to garner…

Today, May 19, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (“LSC”) dedicates its second-generation gravitational-wave detectors (“aLIGO”) in a ceremony at the Hanford detector site. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics have made significant contributions in key areas:

• Custom-made high-power laser systems required for the high-precision measurements
• Efficient data analysis methods running on powerful computer clusters
• Accurate waveform models to detect gravitational waves and extract astrophysical information.

The Albert Einstein Institute (“AEI”) is a leading partner in the international gravitational-wave science community, and its researchers push the boundaries of science on the way to the first direct detection of gravitational waves. This will shed new light on the otherwise invisible “dark” side of the Universe and mark the beginning of gravitational-wave astronomy.

Gravitational waves are a predicted consequence of the general theory of relativity, but have not yet been directly observed. According to the theory, accelerated motions of large masses create space-time…